Before I Do
by thenoblehouseofblack
Summary: The rest of the Marauders help James get over cold feet before his wedding.
1. Hanging By A Moment

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

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_"There's nothing else to lose, there's nothing else to find_  
_There's nothing in the world that can change my mind"_

_Hanging by a Moment - Lifehouse_

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"You're being ridiculous, Prongs," Sirius Black fell back into a chair, shaking his head at his best mate. This was supposed to be the happiest day of James Potter's life, the day he had waited for, the day he had imagined since third year, and what was his overdramatic fellow Marauder doing? Pacing around the room, wondering if his soon to be bride would run off before they could say their vows. "She loves you. You know she does. You knew there is no way in hell Lily bloody Evans would have said yes if she didn't love you and didn't intend to marry you."

"I know, I know," James sighed, tugging at his hair. "But she must have gone bonkers. She _hated_ me. Why would she ever agree to marry me?"

"I thought the answer to all those types of questions was _because I'm James Potter,_" Peter Pettigrew whispered to Remus Lupin.

"I don't think that's going to be enough this time, Wormy," Remus smirked. He stood up and walked over to his friend, putting both hands on his shoulders to still him. "Look, mate, if she had said yes to you in fifth year or sixth year, or hell, even seventh year, I would have agreed, she'd gone completely mental."

"Thanks, Moony, you're such a great help," James rolled his eyes.

"Now you know why he made _me_ best man," Sirius snickered.

"I'm not _finished_," Remus said pointedly. "Listen, Prongs, not 10 meters from here is a girl who is absolutely mad for you. And she never _hated_ you. Sure, you irritated her more than the rest of us, but then, the rest of us weren't deliberately _trying_ to irritate her. And sure, she thought you were arrogant, and a bully, and—"

"Pretty much an arse," Sirius offered innocently.

"Oh! And a wanker," Peter chuckled.

"And a git. Can't forget that."

"And what was that she called him, Sirius? A toerag?"

"Why, I believe it was, Petey old chum. And don't forget a slag. I still remember when she called him that when she found him in a broom closet with Dearborn in our fourth year. That was priceless. Though - she might have been talking to Melanie..."

"_Anyway_," Remus continued pointedly. "The point is, James, you grew up. We were there, you know. We saw you grow up. You weren't that same person anymore, and she saw it, and when she saw it, she fell in love with you. Completely, whole-heartedly, and—"

"Stupidly?"

"Blindly?"

"Good one, Pete! What about... sympathetically?"

"Reluctantly?"

"Guys!" Remus rolled his eyes as James growled at his two best friends.

Sirius smirked. "Listen to wise old Moony, Prongsy, because it's the truth. We have been there for it all, mate, from your obsession beginning to her repeated denials to your maturity to your first date to, sadly for Petey—your first shag…"

"Hey! It's not my fault I didn't know Wormy was in my closet. He could have told me," James smirked. "Or you know… not been in my closet. Why where you even in my closet?"

"I uh – told you I uh – forgot something and then I heard you guys come in and panicked," he said quickly, looking around nervously.

"Prongs, you wanker, you're making poor Wormy embarrassed and nervous again," Sirius smirked, though he looked at his smallest friend worriedly. For some time, Peter had grown more and more anxious as the war continued on, and it worried the rest of the Marauders. Peter had never been as brave as them, they knew, but he was still their best mate.

"Anyway, like I was saying, we've been there, mate, we've seen it all, and we can tell you without an ounce of doubt that Lily Evans is in love with you and is in that room right now probably feeling as anxious as you," Remus smiled.

James let out a deep breath. They were right. Lily loved him. Maybe she hadn't always, but then, he hadn't been the same person he was now. Lily Evans – soon to be Lily _Potter_ – the love of his life. What was he so worried about? This was just another day, granted an important one with a bunch of people watching them, but then, he was used to people looking at him. Then, she would be his forever. Then, they would be together, they would be one, they would be Mr. and Mrs. Potter. Nothing in the world would make him happier. Just thinking about her, about her bright read hair and brilliant green eyes, just remembering what it felt like to hold her in his arms - it made him forget, even for a short time, what was going on in the world. All he wanted to think about was Lily, his love, his life, his soon to be wife.

"I should have made you best man, Moony," he smiled, feeling a lot better. He honestly could not have asked for better friends. Since their first year in Hogwarts, it had been the four of them against the world, and though, today, it was Lily that would always be on his side as his wife, he knew the three men sitting in this room would be there for him no matter what. There were no others he trusted as much.

"Hey!"

"Sorry, Paddy, got to call it as it is," he grinned.

"Eh, I'm not really worried. We already rehearsed it with me as best man, so it's too late for you to change your mind anyway," Sirius grinned and then tapped his cloak pockets. _"And, _in case you try to replace me _anyways_, just remember – I have the rings."

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**The End :D Or not... I was thinking of having the actual wedding ceremony with James and Lily in another chapter. What do you guys think? Let me know!**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this. I know it's short sorry D: It's just a little look at what I imagine the Marauders were doing before James and Lily's big day :D Their friendship is incredible and I really really love James x Lily so yeah :D Anyways let me know what you thought! And if you think I should add the actual wedding :D**


	2. Four Leaf Clover

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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_"For once in my life I'm gonna make a change_

_I'm gonna deal with myself, I'm gonna rearrange_  
_One step at a time, we'll take it day by day_  
_You'll be my four leaf clover, and we'll start over"_

-Four Leaf Color: Mozella

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A girl, whether she was a witch or a Muggle, dreamt of her wedding from the moment she heard of fairytales. She would imagine being a princess one day, marrying her prince who would carry her off to his castle. Most girls didn't quite get their fairytale ending, but the wedding – oh the wedding would be marvelous. Sure, a few details would be different from the 'original' plans. For one, the quests would be actual friends and family as opposed to stuffed animals. The centerpieces would consist of flowers and candles rather than whatever was sitting around the room, and drinks would consist of wine and champagne in beautiful glasses rather than juice boxes.

In Lily Evans' case, however, she was getting everything she ever wanted. Everything was perfect, and beautiful, and just right. The only different was that instead of Petunia being her maid of honor, as she had always imagined it would be, Alice Longbottom had stepped up to fulfill the role. Lily had cried for a whole day when she realized there was no way her sister would even come to her wedding, let alone be standing next to her as she said her vows. But she had gotten over it. There was nothing she could do to convince her sister she wasn't a freak. Petunia had made that decision for herself a long time ago, when Lily was 11. Nothing was going to change that now.

Besides that little snag, everything else was perfect. This was going to be the happiest day of her life. And yet – she was having a mental breakdown. Was everything _too_ perfect? Something had to go wrong, didn't it? And should they even be _having _a wedding right now, what with everything going on? The news of Benjy Fenwick's death had shaken them all just a day before – nothing was found of the quiet boy. Lily didn't feel right enjoying her happiness right now. She didn't feel like she had the right to be _this_ happy when the war was raging around them, when any of them could die tomorrow.

"Lily, you look absolutely beautiful," Alice broke through her thoughts, coming back into the room.

"Finally, rational Alice is here," Marlene McKinnon sighed in relief. She poured herself more mead and leaned back in her chair. "Alice, can you please tell Lily she's being absolutely mental right now?"

"What happened?" Alice asked worriedly.

Lily sighed. "Nothing Alice, Marlene is over exaggerating as usual."

"Over exaggerating?" Marlene scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Dorcas, was or was not the ginger bride from hell just thinking about calling off the wedding before she felt too happy?"

Dorcas smiled apologetically at Lily. "Sorry Lils, as much as I hate to admit it, Marlene's right – for once." Marlene throw her purse at her.

"Are we on this again?" Alice asked impatiently. "Lily Evans, you are being absolutely ridiculous. You are allowed to be happy, okay?"

"But—."

"No buts, Lily," Alice sighed. She walked over to the redhead and grabbed her shoulders. "Lily, not a 100 meters away is a man who loves you more than himself, a man who would do anything for you, who would die for you, a man who is the happiest bloke around because starting today he gets to spend the rest of his life with you. Just remember that, okay? Forget about everything else – just for a day. You deserve to do that. You deserve to be a little happy, you know."

"I know, Alice, but-."

"No."

"How can-."

"No!"

"But-."

"No!"

"Alice-."

"No."

"Okay, okay!" Lily sighed in frustration. Clearly she wasn't going to get more than two words out that way. "But listen, Alice. No," she said as Alice opened her mouth to cut her off again. "Just listen please." She waited till Alice nodded. "I get it. I do. And I love James, so much. I want to marry him. But something doesn't feel right. This doesn't feel right. How can we be celebrating when people are dying? It's absolutely ridiculous that we're having a wedding right now, what with everything going on."

"That's where you're wrong, Lily," Dorcas spoke quietly. "With everything going on, maybe the best thing to do _is_ to have a wedding. I understand what you're saying. I'm sad about Benjy too. But we can't stop living our lives. Benjy wouldn't want that, nor would the other people who gave their lives for a world where we can have weddings, and birthdays, and _be happy_."

Lily sighed, knowing they were right. "You're right. Of course you guys are right."

"Good," Marlene grinned. "Now I have an idea to get your mind off of it!" She grinned wickedly. "Let's recall our favorite failed attempts that James made in asking Lily out!"

"I really wish you wouldn't," Lily blushed, turning around. She knew they would firstly recall the ones where her replies had been the harshest. She didn't exactly regret saying no for so many years. James Potter had been an immature arrogant arse until their seventh year. But she did slightly regret her more – _colorful_ refusals.

"Oh hush, Lils, this sounds fun!" Dorcas laughed. "I'll start. Remember in 4th year when he somehow charmed all the statues in the castle to ask her out every time she passed by one?"

"And she stormed into the Great Hall at lunch, pulled him up by the ear and screamed in his ear to leave her alone," Alice added. "What did she say again?" Lily glared at her best friend for encouraging them. Marlene and Dorcas were bad enough, but with Alice? They would be here forever.

"She called him a wanking no good arrogant arse that could go out with every statue in the castle before she would ever go out with him," Marlene roared with laughter. The other joined her, and even Lily smiled. That had been one of his more clever attempts, and though his many, _many_ attempts had annoyed her to death, she couldn't help but be slightly impressed by the levels he went to to impress her.

"Hey, what about when he had Sirius, Peter, and Lupin dress up as cupids and follow her around for a week?"

"Oh that was so funny. Remember when Sirius wore those tights, oh Merlin! I think that's why we shagged that night. Oh, if he wears those tights again…"

"Marlene! You're married!"

"And slightly _still _a slag." Marlene glared at Dorcas.

"Remember when he put of pictures of his-."

"No, no, that was Sirius!"

"Oh yeah…"

"As amusing as this is," Lily shook her head.

"Oh, remember when he had the house elves throw lily petals everywhere she walked?"

"And when—"

"Enough! You lot are incorrigible. Honestly, how does it matter _how_ we got here? We did, and that's that. And honestly, I'm not _proud_ of the number of times he threw himself at me or I refused him. That was before – when he was an arse and a bully and deserved everything I gave him. But you lot are making him sound pathetic. He's not! And I love him, so you shut your fat mouths about him right now!" But she was laughing with the rest of them.

They stopped laughing, however, when the door opened and they saw who entered. "What are _you_ doing here?" Marlene demanded of their unexpected guest. "I don't recall you being on the invitation list."

Lily stood frozen, her mouth hanging open. At the door stood one Severus Snape. She hadn't seen him since they graduated, and she hadn't spoken to him since that day he had called her a Mudblood in their fifth year and she told him they couldn't be friends anymore. And she had definitely _not_ invited him today. "Alice," she said quietly.

Her best friend nodded and stood up. "Marlene, Dorcas, why don't we go see if the florists set everything up correctly?"

"I'd rather stay here, thanks," Marlene crossed her arms and glared at the man.

"Marlene!" Alice said more sharply. Dorcas stood up immediately, and soon Marlene sighed, following her lead, though not without shoving into Snape on her way out.

She waited until the door was closed. "What are you doing here?" she asked quietly.

"I heard you were getting married today," he said softly, not making any move to come closer.

"Oh, so your master knows about it, does he?" she snapped. "I suppose a Pureblood Potter marrying a Mudblood would be news he would care about."

He winced. "Don't call yourself that."

"And why not?" she laughed bitterly. "That's what I am to you, isn't it? And I'm proud of it. I'd rather be called a Mudblood than a Death Eater any day."

"Lily, please, don't do this," he stepped forward, though he stopped when she edged away from him. "Please, Lily, don't marry him."

"And why not?"

"You deserve better than him. He's an arrogant arse. You know that."

"He's grown up!" she said pointedly. "He's twice the man you'll ever be."

He cringed. "Lily-."

"No, Severus," she said quietly, taking deep breaths to calm herself. "I don't want to hear it. You shouldn't have come here today."

"Lily, I love you," he said softly, his head hung down.

"And I love _him_," she said, her voice just as low. She sighed and fell into a chair. She couldn't handle this. Here was where everything fell apart. Here was where her perfect wedding blew up. "_Why_ did you come here today, Severus? What did you think would happen? That I would leave him and run away with you? That we could somehow go back to how it was before? We can't. Too much has happened. You've chosen your path, Sev, and I've chosen mine. Now, please, _please_ just leave."

He looked at her for a long time before he nodded and turned. He opened the door, but stopped as he was leaving. "Be careful, Lily."

He left without saying another word and she felt tears welling up in her eyes. The door opened again, and for a moment she thought it was him again. But it wasn't. It was Sirius. "Did I just see Snivellus leave?" he asked, coming in and closing the door behind him.

She nodded, looking down. She didn't want Sirius to see her crying. However, the old dog wasn't fooled. "Did he hurt you?" he demanded.

"No."

"What happened, Lily, are you okay?" he moved to her and knelt next to her.

She smiled at him. For so long she had seen him only as James's best friend. She had seen him as the arrogant prat's equally arrogant accomplice. How did she miss the compassion in his every move? How did she miss the core goodness in him? "I'm okay, Sirius," she said softly. "Listen, can you please not tell James about this? He'll just get unnecessarily pissed."

Sirius looked at her for a long time, and she could see him debating with himself. "Okay," he said finally.

"Thanks," she hugged him and sighed. "Sirius?"

"Hmm?"

"How is he?"

Sirius pulled away and laughed. "He's the happiest bloke around. Honestly, I think he's trying to think of a spell to speed time up so he could marry you already."

She laughed. "Well, if anyone could…"

"Yeah, it would definitely be James," Sirius smirked. "How are you? Marlene told me you were kind of upset before?"

She rolled her eyes. "That witch needs to keep her mouth shut. I'm fine." He raised an eyebrow and she knew he could see right through her lie. "Okay, I wasn't fine before, but I am now, I promise."

"What was wrong?"

"It's just – so much has changed, you know? Not so long ago we were still at school and the war was just a warning. And now…"

"Now, our friends are dying, and we're on the front line fighting," he finished for her. She nodded. "I know, Lils, it sucks. It really does. And it's terrifying, not knowing whether we'll make it out alive, or if our loved ones will. But, you know, if this war has to happen, and if that maniac Voldemort _has_ to be killing Muggleborns and trying to take over the world, I'm glad _we're_ the ones fighting against him. I'm glad we'll be able to look back one day, when this war is just a memory, and say, hey we fought to make this world a better place and we won. We made it better for our children and our children's children."

She smiled, glad it had been Sirius who had come to talk to her. She had always been friends with Lupin, but it wasn't until her and James got together that she really became close with Sirius and Peter. And she was glad she did. Sirius was rarely ever serious, no pun intended, but when he was – she couldn't help but smile. "Did you just say _our_ children, Sirius Black?" she smirked. "What happened to going stag for the rest of your life?"

"That's still the plan, sweet cheeks," he grinned, standing. "I didn't mean _my_ children. I meant my godchildren when you and Prongs start popping out the little tykes."

"And what makes you think you'll be godfather?" she laughed, though they both knew he would be.

"Oh please, Lily," he rolled his eyes, laughing. He walked to the door. "I'll send Alice back, alright? Got to get back to James before I find myself losing half an hour if he actually succeeds in making time speed up."

"Okay, Sirius, and thanks."

"Anytime, Lils. And listen," he paused. She waited for the next deep words he would give her. "If you don't make my godfather – let's just say you and James will find yourself permanently without hair." He left her, slightly amused and slightly afraid of his words.

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**Thanks for reading! I know this was originally a one-shot, but I decided to have the whole wedding and such. And since the first one was James' prenuptial worries, I thought it only fair Lily get hers out too hehe anyways, hope you enjoyed. Let me know what you though! byee xx**


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